This is a Strange Place

Hello? can you hear me?

I'm going to keep this short, since my little hands don't work so well on this keyboard. In fact, i don't really know what a keyboard is. Or a computer. Or an internet. Or a blogspot.















I mean, I'm not even 4 weeks old yet.

Anyways, I just wanted to come out here and say, damn, I'm cute. I mean really. Look how cute I am.

































OK, that's all. I need to go eat. Then sleep for a while. Then eat, a little more sleeping, eat, cry, eat, and sleep. It's surprising the cat and I don't get along better. Oh well.















Til next time.

The weather outside is frightful

written Tuesday, Dec 8th

So, little Froglet and I are snowed in. I sent the Moms back to their B and B after lunch today so that I didn't have to worry about them driving in the snow. We're forecasted to get somewhere between 8 and 17 inches of snow tonight! It's been snowing now since the morning - but we're nice and toasty inside. All I'm missing is a cup of cocoa!

Well, and all of my own furnishings and comforts of home. Because, well, we're stuck in temporary housing. We haven't spent the night in our own house since the Friday after Thanksgiving and it looks like we'll never sleep there again.

Most of the way through our Thanksgiving dinner (which MomK and Sissy were here for), our carbon monoxide detector went off. We followed the procedures and called security and the fire department. They found high readings in the apartment and aired it out for a while. Then, on Friday they brought us a new stove (as they thought it was something with the stove) and a new carbon monoxide detector. Then, on Saturday, the carbon monoxide detector went off again! This time, I really freaked out. Froglet and I went out to the car to keep warm and away from the gas. Then PEter brought out the cat, and Sis went back on forth getting us blankets and the diaper bag. Eventually, we decided to take Froglet to the ER to get her checked out.

We were seen quickly at the ER - helps to live in a quiet town - but it was a traumatic experience. They needed to take her blood to test her CO levels, but they were unable to get a vein in her arm. Eventually they had to get the blood from her heel, one drop at a time. It was terrible watching them hold her down as she screamed. The ER doc decided to give her oxygen as a precaution since there's little research about safe CO levels for infants. Sis did a bunch of research from her cell phone in the room and also coordinated with Mom to get us a place to spend the night - since I was NOT going back to that house again. Peter and Sis managed to get Froglet and I safely ensconced in the B and B and then went back to the house for provisions and to drop Cole off at the Veterinary Hospital for his overnight stay.

so, now we're in temp housing. The university has been trying to figure out the cause of the CO levels, with little success. We aren't willing to move back without an identified cause of the problem - so that we could have some reassurance that it won't reoccur. And thus, we've been camping out for 10 days now. Hopefully we'll have a resolution soon.

Grandmama

Grandmama died last Saturday. With all of the events of Froglet's birth and our current living fiasco (more updates on that in a few days), we've barely had time to process her death.

My grandma was 93. She lived a full life and always talked about how lucky she was to have wonderful children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We always told her it was her "fault" - she must have done something right to end up with a great family!

Grandma was the matriarch of the family and held us tightly together. I hope that we can remain close without her presence to tie us together.

Little Froglet will never get to meet her great grandma - but Grandmama got to meet her. The last time I visited in August, I held Grandmama's hand to my belly and watched her face light up as Froglet kicked her hard! So, we'll get to tell Froglet the story of how she kicked her great-grandma and how excited she was to hear about Froglet's impending arrival. Of course we'll have tons of other stories to tell about great-grandma - picking blueberries and huckleberries at her house, making hotcakes, and working in the garden, and how much fun stacking wood can be.

Fingernails of Death

Apparently babies are born with fingernails. Long ones. And boy are little Soro/roso/froglette's fingernails long and sharp.


She hasn't started gouging herself with them yet, so we will wait before we trim them down too much. And apparently, it's real easy to cut the actual baby while trimming the baby's nails. Hopefully our hands aren't too shaky from a lack of sleep.


Also, the little one seems to really enjoy this whole swaddling thing - basically, we wrap her up like a burrito inside some blankets. Who would have ever guessed that working at a burrito shop during college would have paid off so handsomely.

It's A Girl

6 lbs 12 oz

1:52 am, central time

19.5 inches

she's a brunette

mom and baby are happy healthy

and baby is currently nursing

we're looking for a good psuedonym for her, so if you have one, let us know. right now, we're leaning towards Soro

Gratitude

to some amazing men.

First to Mike and Doug, our super awesome handy men. They're not only amazingly responsive, but showed up with a new front door yesterday! We've been hoping for one for over a year, and they've been working some special magic to make it happen before Tadpole arrives. They're also trying to get us a new window! Yay for no ice inside the house this winter.

And to PEter, for rubbing my back and swollen feet. I've been whining a lot the past week as everything gets more and more uncomfortable. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful partner.

Happy Birthday

Grandmama turns 93 today. She's a special woman. Although I can't talk to her any more - she doesn't really do the phone and doesn't really remember who we are often, I hold on to the memories I have of special times we spent together.

Happy birthday Grandmama

Due date count down

We're down to single digits today. 9 days until our estimated due date. Come on baby!!!

The craziest museum we've ever been to

Now that we're pregnant, it seems time to discuss the very strange museum we visited during our trip to Italy in the summer of 2007. A post has been pending about this museum almost since we walked out of the door, that's how memorable it was. But life has gotten in the way and then everyone started getting pregnant. Given the theme of the museum (we call it The Uterus Museum), it seemed slightly inappropriate to inflict it on pregnant women. But, now that I'm pregnant, I've decided that it's time to share the wonders of this special place.

The museum is officially called the Museo Ostertical aka the Obstetrical Museum (and you can find the official museum page in English here). It's not large, just a few rooms, but it carefully documents the training and practice of obstetrics in Italy from the past. Note that this museum makes me super grateful to be living in the 21st century!! A great review of the museum from the journal Nature can be found here (see review).

We don't seem to have any pictures from this museum, it must have been one where they strictly monitored photography or else I was just too distracted by the amazingness of the museum.

The bulk of the exhibits in the museum are various models of the birth process as well as how birth can become complicated. There were models of breech positions as well as techniques to help women manage these types of births. Models showed how to use forceps and other assistance to extract problematic babies.

photo from the Nature.com article

In addition to the birthing models, there were also displays that documented various problems including conjoined twins, internal injuries, as well as models of various deformities that can occur. We found the exhibits just fascinating, particularly considering the era of the museum's displays. It was also an interesting contrast to all of the artwork and church exhibits that are so readily available in Italy. By the time that we reached Bologna, we were ready for other, different things to add to our sightseeing list. Bologna turned out to be a wonderful city for us at this point in our visit as it was full of strange and bizarre museums as well as wonderful food.

Takin' it easy

Peter and Cole - spending quality time together.

The flu

So - the flu is going around. It's getting rather prevalent here. I have had several students out sick with suspected flu as well as classmates and those on my office floor. We got our normal flu shots a few weeks ago, but haven't been able to get in to get the H1N1 shots yet. They had a clinic last week in our county, but canceled it before opening their doors. Tomorrow they're opening the clinic again so I'm headed out to the middle school in a small nearby town to get my shot.

Seeing people's pale and sickly faces as they make they way around campus - until they get thrown out and chastised for exposing the rest of us - is further motivation.

After this, I'll be close to being up-to-date on all vaccines. I'll get my pertussis (whooping cough) booster in the hospital after Tadpole is born (it's not a booster they want to give to pregnant women). If you know someone with a small baby, make sure that you're current on your whooping cough. Unfortunately, babies are very susceptible and there have been cases where parents and grandparents have transmitted this disease and babies have been very sick, and died in some cases. It's an easy thing to do and increases the immunity of all of us.

Tadpole updates

So, we're doing well here out in The Middle. Other than the snow. And the freezing weather. Sheesh, it's only October! As L pointed out, the Tadpole will forever be an native Iowan. Perhaps s/he'll do better with the snow than his/her mom.

Tadpole is doing fine. Our latest midwife appointment last week went smoothly. Oddly enough, I've only gained 1 pound (net, it's been up and down but no net change) since over a month ago and only 1 cm in "bigness". The midwife is not remotely concerned about the lack of change, so I'm not worrying about it either. The PUPPP is back, but that's to be expected. The prescription cream I'm using limits me to two weeks on and then I have to take a one week break. In addition, I get to decide which matters to me more, my vanity or the itchiness. The cream has a side effect in that it makes stretch marks worse. So, dilemmas. The PUPPP cleared up wonderfully, and then I had to take my break last week. It's nowhere near as bad as it was initially, but it's starting to get itchy and red again. So, back on the cream. I gave up on the light therapy as I got slightly burned each time (just barely pink). The dermatologist said that it probably wasn't worth the chance of continued burning, especially since the cream seemed to be so effective. If it gets terribly bad again, and the cream stops working, it could be worth trying the light treatment and seeing if I can get past the burning.

We also talked with her about when to leave for the hospital (at least 1 hour of contractions, probably longer) since we live within spitting distance of the hospital. We'll be seeing the last of the midwives next time (in two weeks) and then going to appointments every week after that.

We've been productive around the house as well. Did a bunch of baby laundry (towels, sheets, tiny clothes etc) on Sunday. Got the car seat re-installed in the car (we took it out during the conference so I could shuttle people around). I'm packing my hospital bag as well as the "stuff to have so we can go home" bag (clothes for me, for Tadpole etc). Any recommendations on that stuff by the way?

I'm getting my sub lined up for the classes I'm teaching in the next few weeks. We haven't quite decided how this will work, will I teach up to the end? Will I call it quits a week or so earlier? Must decide this soon.

We meet the last of the midwives next week, and also start every week appointment rather than every two weeks. My calendar tells me that there are 32 days left until the due date - that feels quick and forever at the same time!

Redwoods

One of the last redwood giants.

Picture from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/redwoods/gatefold-image

The redwoods are like home to me. I can't explain my connection in words really. We went to visit my grandparents in Trinidad, CA a few times a year, but those visits forged a lifelong, almost visceral connection to the forest and the ocean. According to the city of Trinidad's website, it's the smallest city in California - but it's precious to me and I think my cousins all share in that attachment. Trips to Trinidad allowed us to explore through Grandpa's Forest, to walk down to town on our our, to take hikes on Trinidad Head, to watch the stars at night with no street lights....

Grandma's house was special. There were the little tree frogs that lived in the stump out front, huckleberries growing wild just out the back door, and tons of places to wander.

This month's National Geographic has a beautiful feature story about the redwoods. Go read it.

A burst of energy

So, the past few days or so I've been shockingly cheerful and productive. I think I'm finally recovering from the conference exhaustion and the PUPPP sleep deprivation. I'm feeling much more able to get things done, and more importantly even, I'm inspired to get things done and enjoying doing so! This week, I have thus far accomplished

1. graded one stack of tests (one stack still to go)
2. asked a prof for a letter of recommendation for the certificate I'm adding to my PhD
3. talked with a partner about turning our course project into a research project and submitting to a few conferences next year (one here in town and one in MA in June)
4. got prof approval for said project
   
5. met with said partner to get a bunch of work done on the project (we have a shorter timeline than the rest of our classmates due to the baby)
6. sent a bunch of emails
7. worked on class prep
8. did some planning work for the conference proceedings that I'll be editing next spring (in lieu of teaching one class)
9. did planning work for the online class I'm developing in spring (in lieu of the other class)
10. actually cooked a little
11. sorted baby clothes (now for all the laundry!)

The PUPPP is doing dramatically better. I'm not sure what did it, but I'm not complaining. I had to stop my light therapy treatments because I got burned after each try (I tried twice). The dermatologist decided that I was improving enough with the cream that the light therapy probably wasn't worth it. I'm fair enough that I burn pretty quickly, and I'm not super excited about adding more skin burns to my collection from my teenage years. I'm not a sun worshipper anymore! But, if the PUPPP flares up again badly, we'll give it another shot.

All in all, things are going well. I'm slightly terrified and definitely excited to see this baby in six weeks or so. The time has flown by so quickly! We're headed to the childbirthing class this weekend, so we'll be as prepared as we're going to get.

I was never a dog person...

The past week has been very hectic and exhausting. I've been terrible at updating the blog, but here's the rundown on the events of the last week.

Last weekend I was in charge of an academic conference here at FarmU. The conference was a success with attendees from around the world as well as here locally. There were a few hitches, but all in all, it went off well. On Friday, I started to have a rash on my belly and stretch marks rapidly appeared. By Sunday, my arms and legs were covered in tiny bumps. I itched all over! I did some googling, which suggested that I had a condition called PUPPP. If you google for the images (which I haven't linked to) you will see what I looked like.

After not sleeping, I called the midwife first thing in the morning. She saw me right away, which was a relief. My condition apparently was bad enough to get me a trip to the dermatologist. I left with a definite diagnosis of PUPPP and a prescription cream. She recommended an antihistamine and oatmeal baths as well. On Thursday I went back to the dermatologist (after the rash spread to the tops of my feet, backs of my hands, and the backs of my knees). I wasn't sleeping and I was starting to really scratch a lot. Ice packs at night helped, but made me too cold to be able to sleep. The sleep deprivation was getting to me. The dermatologist recommended that I try light therapy as well - as it's been known to help with psoriasis and eczema. They (the medical field) knows little about this skin condition other than that it's caused by pregnancy. There are no apparent harmful outcomes for either mother or baby from it - other than the severe discomfort of the itching. Thus, it seems that little research has been done on how to treat it. Both my midwife and the dermatologist told me that some women end up being induced early (obviously not this early) because the itching is so unbearable. I couldn't have understood that before - but after this week I completely get how itching could be so traumatic.

So, I got my first session of light therapy as well. As of today, I am feeling dramatically better. I still itch, but it's more like a case of mosquito bites now rather than the ceaseless, unending itching of a few days ago. I'm sleeping through the night (well, except to get up to pee!) and that has improved my mood 100%.

I had my regular appointment with the midwife on Friday and she was happy with the improvement over just one week. The baby is doing fine and moving regularly. Tadpole has even had several cases of the hiccups, which are very funny to feel. Tadpole is head down and hanging out int he right position. On Monday, I'll be 33 weeks. Full term is 38-42 weeks (with 40 weeks being the "due date"). So, we're looking at 7 weeks to go (with a range of 5-9 weeks considered normal). So, we're just working on managing my PUPPP symptoms. It should magically go away once the baby comes.

So, that's the latest baby news around here.

Kicking me

So, this child, Tadpole, has decided to make today the First Day of Serious Kicking! I've had movement for the last few weeks, and felt kicks internally for a little while. Thursday I felt a kick with my hand (during class) and last night during a movie we watched there were a few more. But today has been completely different. I was taking a break from homework this morning, sitting in a chair and reading a book (Birth: The surprising history of how we are born by Tina Cassidy, more on this later) and Tadpole just starting moving and kicking or elbowing or whatever. It's just a strange sensation. I couldn't understand it before it happened, and I find it difficult to explain just how it feels. This whole process is a very surreal and strange.

Which I guess is my segway to Birth. I picked this up at the library yesterday along with a few other baby/pregnancy/birthing books. It's an interesting look at the history of human birth, from Lucy to modern times. Cassidy discusses how human birth differs from other mammels and describes how birthing practices have changed of the centuries (and even the last decade). While it's certainly not the book for the squeamish (she unflinchingly describes horrific events and procedures), it's very interesting to hear how we've ended up using the tools and techiques we now rely on. It's also fascinating to consider how quickly things have changed since WW2. I wish I could talk with my grandmother (who, although living, wouldn't be able to have a conversation like this if she even remembers it) about what it was like to have my dad and aunts in the 40s and 50s. I never thought to ask about this before. Now that I'm pregnant, an entirely new area of conversation is available - topics that I was never interested in nor even thought about before now.

Is This Really Our First Garden Post of 2009?

I do believe it is.

This year, we decided to keep our garden fairly small and just do what we could in our front patio area. We have a small dirt patch, maybe 3' by 12', where we planted 5 tomato plants, 5 eggplants, peas, and a bunch of potatoes.

If you can see around Kimberly in this picture, you can see the start of our container garden from a few weeks back:
On the concrete part of our patio, we put a bunch of stuff into containers, including an additional 5 tomatoes, 6 sweet peppers, 6 hot peppers, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, nasturtiums, and our trusty fig trees.

If you can see around Kimberly in this picture, you can see the start of our container garden from a few weeks back:[On a side note, the guy we had out garden with last year, the Hippy Librarian, was in France this past year teaching english. While he was there, he bought a bunch of seeds from the fantastic Seed Savers. He had a garden center start the seeds for him, so when he got back he could immediately put them in the ground. He was pretty surprised to find over 800 plant starts going when he got back (something like 600 tomato plants, 100 eggplants, and 100 peppers). Needless to say, he had more plants than he could plant. We originally were only going to have the dirt patch garden, but since he had such an abundance of plants, we took pity and took some. I have to say, they look fantastic.]

The garden has been going now for about 2 months, and things are starting to get ripe. As you can see from above, we have some peas, although the delicate plants have not fared well against the violent rains that have rolled through over the last few weeks.

We also have a pepper plant that is going crazy - there has to be 40-50 of the hottest peppers I've ever eaten on it. And some of them are even starting to turn red [it should be noted that this plant is actually from last year that we wintered over in our living room; I think this is why it's already so large and fruitful]:


As always, we have a photo set started on Flickr, which we will be updating as things become ripe and ready to eat.

Things are Progressing Nicely...

...if not rapidly.

Here's the latest photo of Kimberly and the Tadpole in front of our patio garden (more coming on that in a little while).

As you can see, her belly is getting larger, and larger. She says it's not really her fault, and that the "stupid tadpole" (her words, not mine) is getting big and her short torso can't handle it. She said something about taking up smoking to slow down the growth, but I'm not sure what that's all about. Sometimes my wife says weird things., unlike me.

If you want to compare pictures of the giant-ness of her belly over the course of time, I made up a set on Flickr of all the baby pics. Feel free to check it out.

And here's another picture of Kimberly, looking lovely in her stylish maternity dress. This is from a wedding we went to this past weekend in Pella, which is a lovely little town in central Iowa.

Reaching the end

I've mentioned before (but not for a while) that a classmate of mine is struggling with the recurrance of her cancer. We just found out that she was moved to a hospice home this weekend after a brief visit to the ER. She's got a great blog set up and it's so nice to see all of the messages of support from the friends she made far and wide. But it's terribly sad as well. Her father has been able to fly in (he's not local) and her sister and niece have come to visit. But this feels like a sudden downturn and has come as a shock to most of us.

No one's talking about time lines, but hospice is a clear signal that recovery isn't what we're hoping for now. I just wish her peace and hope that her family has left nothing unsaid.

Dressing this body

So, I've never been a clothes horse. I'm not particularly concerned with name brands or current fashion and I generally dislike fashion. My shopping memories consist to a large extent of me, Mom and Sis laughing hysterically at each other in dressing rooms at the terrible garments we'd find, and then try on. An ugly swimsuit, prom dress, and even the outfits we made Mom try on for my wedding were all humor mines. And, the important thing here is that we weren't laughing at our bodies or mocking how each other looked but rather at how terrible the clothes were for our bodies. The bodies, eh, they were what we have, it was the clothes that were problematic. Somehow I think that we've all ended up with fairly functional body images (which is an impressive feat I think for Mom, raising two daughters in this challenging era of women's figures).

Anyway, this is all prologue to this new pregnant body. I'm not particularly distressed by the extra weight (as much as I joke about feeling like a hippo these days!) nor do I feel unattractive. But this body surprises me frequently. I still regularly wake up in the morning and am surprised to find out that I'm pregnant. I don't notice until I move, and then, oops, there's a belly there! And I am a poor judge at the amount of space that I take up these days.

The most recent surprise has come with some new clothes. I finally can't wear any of my pre-pregancy pants/skirts and needed to get some new clothes. I'm actually amazed that I was able to last until 22 weeks without nay major purchases (except for the shirts that Sis helped me find). So, I ordered a stack of stuff from Old Navy (good choice for the pregnant among you if you're looking for "disposable" maternity clothes for not much money). I got them in the mail yesterday and I'm having a hard time figuring out if these clothes fit. They certainly don't fit the body I currently have (everything is loose and a little tent-like) but I suspect that they'll fit the body I'll have in a few weeks. Thus, I'm having a bit of a disconnect. I feel like I'm swimming in these new clothes and that they make me look like I'm hiding or wearing a sheet, but I don't want to buy clothes that fit my current body, as I won't have it for long! It's very strange. I've always tried hard to buy for the body I have (versus buying clothes hoping that I'll lose those 10 pounds or whatever). So, in the meantime, I'm trying to remember that this body is very temporary and whatever it looks like today will be different tomorrow... and if my clothes don't fit now, they certainly will in another month.

I'm in my 6th month (counting medically) at 22 weeks. I'm doing great other than the heartburn. If we do this again, I'm stocking up on Tums in advance. Being shortwaisted is definitely not convenient when pregnant. But, I have few other complaints and compared to some of the women in my swim group, I'm getting off easy with side effects.